


ripped at every edge

by tiffaniesblews



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst and Feels, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Canon Compliant, F/M, Implied Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Late at Night, Nightmares, Post-Episode: s03e18-21 Sozin's Comet, pls let them sleep, talks about death, they deserve to rest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26366785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiffaniesblews/pseuds/tiffaniesblews
Summary: After the Agni Kai, Zuko wakes up in his room after being plagued with nightmares. Luckily, the very person he dreamed about happens to be sitting in the room to help him calm down.
Relationships: Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 106





	ripped at every edge

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from Halsey's "Colors" off her album Badlands.

_ You’re ripped at every edge but you’re a masterpiece  _

_ And now I’m tearing through the pages and the ink _

* * *

Zuko was running.

His feet felt as though they were made of lead keeping him grounded on the floor. No matter how hard he tried, he was unable to pick up speed.

In front of him, the lightning was slowly making its way towards her, reflecting in her terrified eyes. Zuko needed to get to her, he  _ had  _ to make it.

“No, Katara!” he yelled, trying his best to jump forward, reaching out with one arm.

But it was too late. 

His body hit the ground as he watched the lightning connect with Katara’s body, causing her to spasm. Her own body crumpled before him as Azula cackled.

“Katara!” he yelled again.

This time, Azula was making her way towards him, her arms outstretched, summoning more lightning. Her eyes, lit with adrenaline and insanity, locked with his as she smiled wickedly.

“NO!” 

Zuko woke up in a panic in a tangle of blankets, his chest burning. He breathed heavily, wiping the sweat from his brow. 

Placing a hand to his chest, he struggled to sit up in bed, each breath harder than the next. It was then Zuko realized he wasn’t wearing a shirt, but his chest was wrapped in bandages. Grunting, he slouched against the headboard, trying to make out the room around him.

He knew he must be in his quarters. After the Agni Kai, he and Katara secured Azula, but Zuko felt faint, the world around him beginning to fade. The last thing he remembered before waking up now were Katara’s arms grabbing onto him before he hit the ground. 

Squinting in the dark, he looked around trying to find anything he could identify. In a chair by his bed, Zuko could make out a figure of someone sleeping. He decided to try and move closer to the side of the bed to see better, but every inch of him screamed in protest, his own cry of pain escaping from his lips.

Whoever was in the chair woke up with a start, looking over at Zuko. 

“Zuko?” came Katara’s steady voice.

“Katara,” Zuko rasped, clutching his chest, squeezing his eyes shut to try and will the pain away. 

“Zuko, sweetheart, you need to lay down,” Katara said, getting up off the chair and coming over to the bed to try and ease Zuko down.

“Water?” Zuko muttered, reaching for Katara. “Water, please.”

Katara nodded and went to the adjacent bathroom. When she came back, she handed a glass to Zuko who took it from her and drank greedily. Katara just watched him, taking the glass from him when he handed it back to her.

“You need to rest,” Katara told him, placing the glass on the table by the bed. 

“I can’t,” Zuko replied, the back of his head up against the headboard as he adjusted himself to get more comfortable. The scar beneath his fingertips ached with both pain and longing. 

“Does it hurt?” Katara asked him, sitting on the bed and reaching a hand towards Zuko. Gently, she placed her hand next to Zuko’s on his chest, feeling beneath the bandage.

Zuko patted the empty spot near him, moving over slightly so that Katara had more room. She crawled over, sitting so close to him that their shoulders were touching, her legs stretched out next to his that still lay beneath the sheets.

“It hurts,” Zuko told her, rubbing the bandage as though trying to move the pain. “But that’s not why I can’t sleep.”

“Then why not?” Katara asked, looking up at him. 

“I had a nightmare,” he said, closing his eyes once more and taking a deep breath.

Katara’s hand found Zuko’s. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Opening his eyes, he looked over at Katara who was still staring at him. Her face was soft against the moonlight that trickled in from the window. 

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” she told him, now resting her head on Zuko’s shoulder. 

“It was about you,” he admitted, his head finding its way on top of Katara’s. He felt her deep breathing against him. 

“What about me?” she asked.

“That I couldn’t stop it,” Zuko explained, fear slowly trickling into his mind. “That I didn’t make it in time.” 

“Zuko,” Katara said, squeezing his hand. 

“That you  _ died  _ and it was all my fault,” he continued, a sob caught in his throat. 

“ _ Zuko _ ,” Katara repeated firmly. 

“I’m sorry,” he sobbed, unable to stop. “I’m sorry, Katara, I’m so sorry.”

“Zuko, what do you have to be sorry for?” she asked him, letting go of his hand and moving so that she was now kneeling next to him to face him. 

“I couldn’t stop her, she was too strong,” he said through his tears. “Katara, I almost lost you.”

“But you didn’t,” she told him, placing a hand on his cheek. “You didn’t lose me.” 

“But I-”

“Zuko, you  _ saved  _ me,” Katara said, moving a bit closer to him. “I’m here because of you. Your nightmares are fake.”

Zuko sniffed as Katara rubbed away a tear with her thumb. 

“If anything, I almost lost you,” Katara whispered. “I don’t know how I would live with that.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, his eyes locking on hers. She looked sad.

“Because if you died, it would have been my fault,” she said. “You would have died for me, and I don’t think I could keep going with that knowledge.” 

“I made a choice,” he told her, finally removing the hand resting on his chest. 

“That scar is a reminder of the sacrifice you made for  _ me _ ,” Katara said, a tear siding down her cheek. She removed her hand from his face, sitting down next to him again. 

“I know,” Zuko replied. 

“How can you live with that reminder?” Katara asked him timidly. 

“Katara, why do you think I’m ashamed of it?” 

“I don’t,” she replied.

He looked down at her just as she looked up. She didn’t just look sad, she looked tired. 

“I don’t,” she repeated quietly. 

“Good, because I’m not,” Zuko replied, taking her hand in his and placing them on his chest where his scar lay. “Because taking that lightning for you was by far the easiest decision I ever made.”

“Worth all this?” she asked, motioning towards his wrapped chest with her free hand. 

“Yes, worth all the pain,” Zuko told her. “Because the thought of living in a world without  _ you _ ? It was just too much to handle.”

Katara was quiet next to him, considering what he told her.

“You don’t need to say anything,” he continued. “I just wanted to put that out there. I needed you to know how much you mean to me.”

“You mean a lot to me too, Zuko,” Katara said.

They sat there, hands intertwined, their breathing steady. The pain in Zuko’s chest slowly faded, the tears drying against his cheeks. With his free hand, he wiped his sweat soaked hair out of his face. 

“You still need rest, Zuko,” Katara told him. “The others are worried about you.”

Zuko nodded; he had no idea when the others made it back to the Fire Nation, but he was too tired to ask Katara. She helped him slowly slide back down into bed, adjusting his sheets for him. Once his head hit the pillow, Katara made to get off the bed, but Zuko’s hand shot out from beneath the sheets, grabbing Katara’s wrist.

“Stay with me? Please?” he begged, eyes pleading with her. 

Katara gave him a soft smile, leaning down and pressing her cool lips against his damp forehead. 

“I won’t leave you,” she whispered. 

Zuko pushed his sheets aside, looking up at her. She considered his offer a moment before slowly moving towards him, sliding in next to him and bringing the sheets over herself. Before he could think, he rolled over and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her closer to him. Katara just snuggled herself into him, her face buried in his chest. 

With Katara in his arms, Zuko fell into a deep sleep that was no longer plagued with nightmares. 

Katara lay awake, listening so Zuko’s steady breathing. She counted each time she could feel his heart beat against her as if she were counting sheep. 

“I’ll never leave you,” she whispered, her hand somehow finding its way to the scar on Zuko’s chest. 

Zuko smiled in his sleep. 

**Author's Note:**

> i do be sleepy, and i wrote this instead of sleeping/working. thus is life.


End file.
